Smokeless tobacco campaign expanded

April 20, 2016Silver Spring, Md. — The Food and Drug Administration announced April 19 that it is expanding "The Real Cost" smokeless tobacco campaign to include messages on nicotine addiction, gum disease, tooth loss and cancer.

The campaign, which also teams up with Major League Baseball, is designed to educate rural, white male teenagers about the negative health consequences associated with all forms of smokeless tobacco, including dip, snus and chew. According to FDA, smokeless tobacco use is "culturally ingrained in many rural communities" and is often considered a rite of passage with teenagers.

FDA also said that smokeless tobacco use is "more than twice as likely in rural areas compared to metropolitan areas in the U.S. However, some rural youth are impacted more significantly than others, with white, male youth being more likely to use smokeless tobacco than other youth."